Continuous improvements in semiconductor process technology have extended the capability of silicon (“Si”) CMOS devices into the RF and microwave domain. Improvements resulting in, for example, smaller FET gate lengths have increased the maximum frequency of operation. There has been long-standing interest in increasing the frequency capability of Si for many reasons, including the generally lower cost of Si-based devices compared to III-V devices, such as, for example, those fabricated from gallium arsenide (“GaAs”) and indium phosphide (“InP”). Furthermore, given the overall maturity of Si process technology, mixed signal devices (i.e., devices that process both analog and digital signals on the same semiconductor chip), are generally more easily fabricated in Si than in other materials. Other advantages of Si include greater surface smoothness and a high thermal conductivity (approximately three times that of GaAs). Si also has a high dielectric constant that is generally unaffected by variations in temperature, or frequency, or both.
On the other hand, the intrinsic peak mobility of electrons in Si is approximately 600 cm2 V−1 s−1. This is lower than the electron mobility of 8500 cm2 V−1 s−1 in GaAs. Accordingly, for Si-based devices to have performance (per unit gate width) that is substantially equivalent to GaAs-based devices, Si gate lengths must be scaled downward significantly. For example, NMOS devices have been demonstrated that have cutoff frequencies between 120 GHz and 150 GHz, with effective electrical gate lengths on the order of 0.09 micrometer.
A problem with such significant downward scaling of gate length is that doing so affects the noise performance of the resulting device. Although long channel devices have been demonstrated that have a noise figure of approximately 1-2 dB, as gate lengths decrease, short channel (e.g., “shot”) noise typically begins to degrade device performance. Adding one or more bipolar structures to the CMOS semiconductor chip (resulting in a “BiCMOS” design) can circumvent this problem. Nevertheless, a BiCMOS structure adds several steps to the CMOS fabrication process, thereby increasing production complexity and cost.
The Si substrates used in the fabrication of RF devices typically have a lower resistivity compared to GaAs substrates. This generally causes greater signal losses in Si compared to GaAs. This, in turn, typically results in increased power consumption in the GHz regime for Si-based devices, and lower quality (“Q”) factors for passive Si-based components, the latter of which degrades the noise performance.
RF circuits, such as voltage controlled oscillators (“VCOs”), low noise amplifiers (“LNAs”), and phase locked loops (“PLLs”), typically include one or more transistors. When operated at high frequency, these circuits can suffer from poor performance like that described above due, at least in part, to their use of one or more conventional transistors in the overall circuit designs. Converting such designs to GaAs or BiCMOS can be problematic, particularly when a circuit is monolithic (i.e., when the most or all of the circuit is contained on one semiconductor chip). The increase in cost and complexity of such a conversion can make it impractical or impossible.
From the foregoing, it is apparent that there is still a need for a way to improve the performance of RF circuits, particularly at high frequencies, while avoiding changes to the circuit designs or fabrication sequences that can increase cost and complexity.